APPEAL BOARD

Grey River Argus, 22 April 1943, Page 3

APPEAL BOARD

GREYMOUTH SITTING. The Armed Forces Appeal Board sat in Greymouth again yesterday. Mr. W. Meldrum presided, and with him were Messrs P. J. McLean, and A. J. Panther. Mr. C. F. Shapcott t was secretary.. In a reserved decision, the application by C. Smith Ltd., for rehearing of an appeal for Norman Allan Potts was granted, but the appeal was dis- , missed, the liability to serve to be postponed for three months. Peter Thomas Coll, power line constructor, was appealed for by Thomas Coll (Mr. W. D. Taylor) who said that he and his son were engaged in, among other work, repair work at the Briandale coal bins ana the construction of a line for the Paparoa mine.—Adjourned sine die. i Appeals by the Grey Electric Power Board for James W. Grant, Kevin Patrick Coll, and Peter Claude Thompson (electricians), and for William Ashley Croudis, Oswald Mutch, John Martin Olsen L an d Eric Harman Langridge (linesmen) were all adjourned sine die. The Board’s engineer, Mr. Sinclair Trotter, said that a considerable amount of overtime was worked on maintenance, and the Board was behind with the inspection of consumers’ premises. Harold Richmond Lammas, dairy factory assistant, and Frederick Martin Sara, butter maker, were appealed for by the Golden Coast Dairy Company. Mr. E. W. Miller, for the Coy, said.that these two men were now the only employees at Reefton. and both men were essential and would be wanted all the year.—Adjourned sine die. The Greymouth /Technical High School appealed for Courtney David Barson, instructor, William Stewart Marshall, teacher, and Frederick A. Wicks, teacher. Mr. W. M. Stewart. Principal of the school, said that the < position had in no way • improved since the original’ hearings. It was increasingly rare to have applicants

for war-time vacancies, especially from teachers of mathematics and woodwork, as there was a great demand for them by the armed forces. Barson was' a woodwork instructor and Marshall and Wicks were mathematics teachers. Mr. Shapcott said that, special representations were | made by the Air Force regarding Barson and Marshall. —All the appeals were adjourned sine die. Appeals for seventeen waterside workers were lodged by the Watersiders’ Union, for whom the President, Mr. H. Outram, appeared. Mr. Outram said that there was a limit of 152 to the Union’s membership, with provision for a 5 per cent, movement either way. The present membership was 150. Those on the waiting list were older men, most of whom were not suitable. An average of 50 to 55 hours a week was

| worked, and it was posI sible for the whole of available membership to be required at one time. To Mr. Shapcott Mr Outram said that the only way of releasing men Was to replace them with other workers. The chairman said that the Board proposed to adopt the principle laid down in the recent cases at Westport. Those called in the fifteenth or earlier ballots would be adjourned for three months for review, the Watersiders’ Union to approach the Waterfront Control Commission at | Wellington and th e Manpower Officer at Greymouth to arrange if possible for the replacement of .grade 1 men by men of lower grade at present in camp. The appeals of John Smeaton, Leslie Walker Stanton, Frederick Walter Newman, John Phillip Knox, Jack Kelly, and Thomas George Olsen would therefore be adjourned for review in three months. Those of David Murland, Frank McEnaney, James William O’Donoghue, Milner Churchel Sweetman, Alan Purton, Walter Vaughan, George William Roberts, Thomas Claude Outram, Charles Bryan O’Connor, William Richard Mann and James Best would be adjourned sine die, David Patrick Harnett, dispenser, was appealed for by the Greymouth Hospital Board, Mr J. E. A. McKeefrv. secretary to the Board, said that Harnett was doing all the dispensing work as well as .the radio work. These had previously been separate positions employing two men. Harnett was working 70 to 80 hours weekly.—Adjourned sine die. Appeals by the Greymoutb Borough Council, for whom the Borough engineer, Mr. A. J. Fairmaid, appeared, were heard as follows: Michael A. Brown, chief clerk, Bernard Clarke. Arthur George Cleghorn, Thomas Anthony Scalmer, gas works stokers, Alfred V. Cairney, labourer, Anthony Burrell engineer.—All adjourned sine die. James Martin Griffin, sewerage forman. —Adjourned for review in 3 months. The Grey County Council (Mr. W. D. Taylor) appealed for William George Lakin, labourer, and Charles George Buist, driver and ganger. Mr. J. Higgins, County engineer, said that Lakin was employed on the Kumara —Greenstone road on which

there were four mills. Buist was in charge of a gang in the Nelson Creek district. There were two mills on the road in his charge.—Both appeals were adjourned sine die. The Greymouth Harbour Board appealed for Peter Affleck, wharf carpenter,' Charles A. Tilleyshort, engineer, John William Walton, signalman, Edwin F. James Sheppard, seaman, Athol William H. Clark, deck hand,, and George Turner, seaman. The Board’s engineer, Mr. D.

S. Kennedy, said that eleven men were needed to operate the dredge, and when the dredge was not working they were used in the quarry or on the wharf. Four of the men appealed for were members of the crew of the dredge. Affleck, a wharf carpenter who also helped on the dredge, was a good alp round man who would be needed for sounding in connection with the new harbour scheme. Walton, a signalman, was at present in hospital.—The appeal for Clark, single, grade 1, who was a winchman on the dredge, and also relieved at. the quarry, was dismissed, and those for Affleck, Tilleyshort, Walton, Sheppard. and Turner were adjourned sine die. The Greymouth Evening Star CoLtd., (Mr. J. W. Hannan) appealed for Patrick Coll, mechanic, Charles William Corbin, linotype operator, Andrew Dalziel, foreman printer, and Oswald John Morris, journalist. Mr. A. J. Wilson, manager of' the company, said that Coll, who was the machinist for the paper, had special knowledge, and enquiries made throughout N.Z. by another paper with a similar machine showed that it would be impossible to find a replacement. Corbin, one of five linotype operators, was in charge of a machine used especially for job printing and display work. Dalziel, in charge of the job printing department. now had only one girl assistant; previously the department had employed five men. Morris the senior of two reporters,' 1 assisted with the sub-editing and relieved in the absence of the editor. The company had lost ten employees to the services and had replaced only two. All of the appeals were supported by the Printing Trades’ Manpower Utilisation Committee.—All were adjourned sine die. The Grey River Argus Co., Ltd., (Mr W. D. Taylor) appealed for

Malcolm Bruc e Charteris, compositor, John Henry Minchin, and Alexander Joseph Greaney (linotype operators). Mr. N. V. Lovell, manager of the Coy., said that there had been no change in the circumstances since, the appeals for Minchin and Greaney were previously heard. It was impossible to release any of these men. There was only one other linotype operator and an ap prentice, and it was only the- reductiori. in the. size of the paper as a result of the war which enabled the paper to carry on with three operators instead of six. Charteris was in charge of the job printing department and was the only journeyman in the department. All of the appeals were supported by the Printing Trades’ Manpower Utilisation Committee. —All were adjourned sine die. . James R. Leitch (Mr. W. D. Taylor) appealed for Vernon Howard Messenger, shipping clerk. Mr. Leiter, said that there had been no change in the position since the previous hearing of the appeal. His own health prevented him from undertaking the work. Messenger was his only male employee and had been doing the job for 14 years.—Ad-

joyrned sine die. The Union Steamship Co, appealed for Louis Francis Anderson, clerk and accountant, and Robert William Bartley, wharf foreman. Mr. S. J. Davis, local manager of the Coy, said that Anderson had been with the company for 221 years, and it would require a man of similarly long experience as well as local knowledge to do the job. The Coy had had exceptionally heavy losses to the' armed forces. Bartley was one of the two whai’f foremen supervising the. actual loading of ships, and it had been found quite impos- ■ sible to replace him.—Both appeals were adjourned sine die. William Joseph Preston, -fish merchant (Mr. Taylor) appealed on his own behalf. Appellant and his brother were employed for long hours and, in addition to the retail trade, nandled the fish straight from the boat.—Adjourned sine die. The West Coast Fish Supply appealed for Percy George Veale, and Gordon T. ©. Macilquaham, fishermen. Mr. Veale said that he had been in the fishing business for 14 years. The appeal was supported by thp Wholesale Fish Merchant’s Association and the Shipowners’ Federation. —Adjourned sine die. Mr M. P. McDonald appealed for Tasman Te Rangi Smith, fisherman, Mr. McDonald, in a letter, said that Smith was a licensed fisherman and a member of the Seamen’s Union arid was of considerable help. The appeal was supported by the Wholesale Fish Merchants’ Association. the Shipowners’ Federation, and the Seamen’s Union. —Adjourned sine die